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‘Vanderbilt Admissions Committee’

A Post for New Vandy Parents and Short Waitlist Update

Jun. 3, 2009—It is with humility that I attempt to offer advice to parents at least 4 times my senior in the parenting biz. I won't pretend that I know first hand what it is like to send your child off to college, but I have been a second hand observer to the process having worked for colleges almost a decade. The Southern journalist Hodding Carter once wrote, "There are two lasting bequests we can give our children: One is roots, the other is wings."

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How Admissions Committee at Vanderbilt Works

Mar. 19, 2009—For the past two weeks I, along with my fellow Associate Director and Director of Admissions at Vanderbilt, have reviewed the decisions of hundreds of individual students all across the country. Think of a meeting that lasts 80+ hours long. Yes, it is that fascinating.

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Hot Chicken and Data Days

Feb. 24, 2009—Nashville has plenty of culinary choices. But there is one type of food which is distinctive to Music City: Hot Chicken. Hot Chicken is southern-style pan-fried chicken cooked in a cast-iron skillet. There is, however, one twist. The chicken is breaded in a super-secret blend of spices which give the chicken its…hot. And trust me,...

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Admissions deadlines for Admissions Officers

Feb. 16, 2009—You think you're the only one that gets stressed meeting admissions deadlines? Our officers are reading their eyeballs out right now, pouring over applications trying to meet our own internal priority deadlines. In our office, we set goals as to when all applications should be first read, second read, and decisioned (more on this term and a minute), etc. One such priority deadline is coming up this week.

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Super Mega Hella-Blizzard 2009

Jan. 20, 2009—A blizzard of another kind is winding down at 2305 West End Ave at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. During the height of the days surrounding our January 3rd application deadline, our operations staff was handling an avalanche of mail. On January 5th we received 30 bins of mail. That following week, each day brought an additional 10 bins of materials to our office.

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